


Trains and Coffee

by NeedsMoreMetal



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Gen, It isn't much but its something
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-26 00:25:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3830356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeedsMoreMetal/pseuds/NeedsMoreMetal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yeah so a while back I wrote a story called, "The Power of Fate" and some people wanted me to expand on it. Well I did and here we are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Power of Fate](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1509476) by [NeedsMoreMetal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeedsMoreMetal/pseuds/NeedsMoreMetal). 



The first time he sees her, well thinks he has seen her, a camera hides her face. He is in a hurry to get to the metro but he does a double take at hair the colour of wine. She has her back to him with her camera up still. Her hair is longer than he remembers but it has been a couple years. The wind picks up and he swears he smells her shampoo. The smell that he almost memorized while in high school. But a crowd comes through, she is gone, and he is late for work.

The next time, he swears she is haunting him. He only gets a brief glance at her face before she is walking off the train. He makes a move to follow but the doors close and he cannot find her on the platform anymore.

Weeks pass and he hasn’t seen her anywhere, so he stops looking. Then he passes a bar and sees her smiling to something the person next to her said. He almost runs to the door and rushes in, his heart beating out of his chest. The person sitting next to her recognizes him.  
     “Salut!” They say and wave him over. She turns around and the smile on her face changes to disbelief.  
     “Lily.” He whispers. Then she’s flinging her arms around his neck and he’s picking her up in a hug.  
     “I thought I would never see you again.” She’s whispering, in English, in his ear. He just holds her tighter. His friend, Emma, clears her throat and they release each other.  
     “So you two know each other?” Emma asks.  
     “Yeah we went to high school together and haven’t seen each other since.” He explains. His hand still rests on the small of Lily’s back.  
     “Well you two should get caught up then! I’ll see you in class.” Emma says to him and to Lily she says, “It was nice to meet you,” in much simpler French. Lily smiles and nods.

They leave and head back to his apartment. They don’t talk the whole way but Lily has her arm around his with her hand on his bicep. When they get inside there is a moment of silence as Lily walks over to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. The sun has set and all the lights of the buildings create an orange glow on her face.  
     “It’s beautiful.” Her English is rough to his ears.  
     “It is.” His English is rusty from lack of use.  
     “Comment ça va?” She asks very slowly. Like she’s trying to remember how to form the words.  
     “My rusty English is better than your French.” He smiles and she does too. “But I’m good. You?” He asks. He stands next to her to look out the window. She shrugs.  
     “Same as always.” She looks around his apartment as if she’s analyzing it. “No girlfriend.” She states and he shakes his head. This simple statement opens the floodgates for both of them. They talk until three in the morning but he doesn’t mind. Even though he has to get up early. He doesn’t mind when he realizes that she’s fallen asleep on his couch. He just picks her up and places her on his bed. He knows that couch isn’t comfortable to sleep on. And he still doesn’t mind when he wakes up the next morning to her burrowed under the duvet with her hair a mess of red on his pillow. He doesn’t mind her morning breath when she kisses him. He doesn’t mind all of this because he finally has the girl of his dreams.

He’s looking at her as if she will disappear and never return. She blushes and covers her face with the duvet. This makes a laugh bubble from his mouth as he wrestles the blanket from her grasp.   
            “Stop looking at me like that.” She says breathlessly.   
            “Like what?” He questions.  
            “Like I hold all the answers to the world’s questions.” She is still smiling when she speaks. He just smiles and twists a strand of her hair between his fingers.  
            “Your hair is redder than I remember.”  
            “I dyed it right before I left the states.” He nods slowly, still playing with her hair. She sighs and sits up after a moment. He looks at her curiously when she isn’t wearing the same shirt she fell asleep in. She can feel his gaze on her and answers his question before he asks it. “You are like sleeping next to a furnace. I woke up too warm so I took off the shirt I was wearing over this one.” She can hear him chuckle behind her. She can feel his hand drawing circles on her back.  
           

“I have to go to work.” He states a couple minutes later. He can feel her back tense under his palm. She nods then. He sits up and places a small kiss on her shoulder.  
            “I have the short shift today though so I’ll be home early.” He says hurriedly. She nods again, her whole demeanor has changed. She is tense and vacant. He doesn’t like seeing her like this.  
            “Hey, look at me.” He physically turns her body to face him and lifts her chin up. “Please be here when I get back.” He whispers and he sees something shift in her eyes. A small smile breaks across her face. He mirrors her smile and leans forward to place a kiss on her lips. It’s quick but feels natural.

She lies back down in his bed and watches him get ready for work. Her eyes never leaving him. He thinks that it should feel awkward but it doesn’t. However, when he comes out of the bathroom from styling his hair, she is not laying on the bed anymore. A fleeting worried thought crosses his mind but he shuts it down. She wouldn’t do that…would she?

He rushes into the kitchen to see her standing in the same spot she did last night. With the morning sun pouring in through the windows, she looks ethereal. He would think that the sight “took his breath away” but this is Lily and she would hate how cheesy that line would be. Then he notices that she wearing one of his flannel shirts. The green plaid one specifically. It was excessively big for her, she had the sleeves rolled up, and he wishes he had a camera to capture the moment.   
            “I never told you, but I love city views and skylines.” She glances over at him and her blue eyes pierce his soul. But he chuckles and walks to her.  
            “The people selling the apartment hated the view because you couldn’t see the Eiffel Tower.” She smiled.   
            “There’s more to a view than the tourist attractions.” She says softly. He nods and runs his fingers through her hair. “You’re going to be late for work.” She says softly. She is looking out the window again. He swallows past the lump in his throat and nods.

As he is walking to his front door, he hears her call his name, “Asher,” He turns and faces her. “I’ll be here when you get back. I promise.” She is smiling at him and tucking her hair behind her ear when she speaks.  
            “I know you will be.”

If he was being honest with himself, he was a little worried that she would not be at his apartment when he got back. He fumbles with his key in the lock and eventually gets the door open. But she is there. He exhales the breath he did not know he was holding. Her hair is in a messy bun on the top of her head and she’s humming along to a song playing from her laptop speakers. She is still wearing his shirt.

He sets his keys in the bowl by the door in the entryway and walks to the kitchen. She turns around on the bar stool to face him. She is smiling at him and gives him the ‘I told you I would be here’ look.   
            “Hi.” He says quietly.  
            “Hi.” She replies, “How was work?” She asks.  
            “Work was okay. Nothing too special. Did you go get your laptop while I was gone?” He internally slaps himself because of course she got her laptop that is why it is sitting on his counter playing a Rolling Stones song. She smirks at his question.  
            “Obviously.” There is just a bit of her usual sarcasm coating her reply.  
            “Yeah that was a stupid question.  I’m not used to having someone home when I get home.” Although he believes, he could get used to having her here. “I usually just come home and turn on the TV for a few hours before biology kicks in and I need to eat.”   
            “That can be arranged. Let me just finish up working really quick.” She smiles and turns back to her computer. He agrees and goes to get a glass of water.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what are you working on?” He had noticed a word document open on her computer.  
            “I don’t mind, I’m working on a movie review.” He can hear the shyness in her voice when she answers.   
            “That’s awesome! Are you a movie critic?” He asks, generally interested. She nods and types quickly. Her eyes never leaving the screen. “Well I don’t want to distract you from work, so I’ll be watching TV until you’re done.” He kisses her temple as he walks by. He hesitates and can feel her looking at him. It just felt so normal to do so. He clears his throat and leaves her to work just as he said he would.

About an hour later, he hears her laptop close and her bare feet move to the living room. He tips his head back to see her standing there.   
            “All finished?”  
            “All finished. Now scoot over.” He moves to one end of the couch and she curls up next to him as he flips through the TV channels.   
            “Are there any channels not in French?” She asks quietly. Almost like, she was ashamed to ask.  
            “I’m afraid not.” He replies carefully. There is a question that had been burning a hole in the back of his mind since this morning, he just is not sure if he should ask it.

“Why are you tense? It is as if…I don’t know. Are you worried about something?” She is sitting up and looking at him with the cutest confused face he has seen.  
            “I, uh, just want to ask you something.” She raises an eyebrow but her facial expression doesn’t falter. “How, um, long are you going to be here?” He has to look away from her mid-sentence because her gaze still doesn’t falter.  
            “I fly back Sunday evening. Back to New York.” She looks away from him and moves so she isn’t touching him at all. “I assume you have a work visa here.” She whispers.  
            “Yeah I do. Also, Sunday is in 2 days. Well realistically, less than that. When were you going to tell me?” He couldn’t help but feel a bit defensive that she didn’t tell him. She whirls around to look at him. Her eyes no longer held the warmth that they had earlier that day.   
            “I didn’t realize that I had to tell you everything. Nor do I have control over what days I have for leave. I don’t live here,” She stood from the couch and glared down at him. “I have a job, in another country, that doesn’t allow me to just leave!” She has barely raised her voice but the echo rings for a few moments after.  
            “That’s not what I meant.” He sighs.  
            “Then what did you mean? You were the one who got all defensive with me.” She crosses her arms over her chest and holds her head high.  
            “I was just hoping to have more time with you is all.” He is exasperated with the conversation and it was a short one really. “I have…-“  
            “What?” She didn’t have patience anymore.  
            “I have loved you since second semester of junior year of high school. I wanted to have more time with you before you left so you could love me too.”   
            “Asher. I did love you,” He notices the past tense. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to drop everything, in a place that I love, with a job that I love, and live here.” Her eyes soften and she uncrosses her arms. Though she remains standing. “I found my home, Asher, and clearly you have found yours.” She whispers. She walks to that spot where she had stood the first time she walked into his apartment. Staring out over the skyline.   
            “Home for me is wherever you are.” He wishes he could take the words back as soon as he said them.  
            “We both know that isn’t true. You left. You came here first. You ran!”   
            “I wasn’t running!” He shot from the couch and stood to face her.  
            “Then why did you leave? If you were in love with me back then, why did you leave in the first place without telling me jack shit?” Whatever softness there was, is now long gone; she is furious.  
            “Okay so maybe I was running. A little bit. But you never said anything either!”   
            “Because I wasn’t about to screw up your chance of finding whatever it is you were looking for! Because I knew, I did not see the long-term picture of my life with you in it as a relationship. Friends, yes. But I knew, somewhere in the mess of my thoughts at the time, that I was going to move on and so were you!”

“So now you get to make my choices for me?” He knows it is a low blow but he has nothing else. He knows that she is right.  
            “I’m not making your choices for you and you know that. I am doing what is best for me. And I know that all that would happen would be pain for you.” She holds no emotion on her face. It is as if the Lily that he saw last night is now stored away somewhere else.  
            “How do you know that?” His tone is even and controlled.  
            “Because you are just as much in love with this city, this country, and these people as I am with New York. I am not going to ask you to leave this place. Just like you couldn’t ask me to do the same.”   
            “Well I could.”   
            “And if you do, this conversation will get a lot uglier.” Her tone states that this conversation is over and not to be argued anymore. “I’m going back to my hotel. If you want to go get something to eat or drink, well you know where I’ll be.” She comes out of his bedroom fully dressed, no longer wearing his plaid flannel. She grabs her laptop off his counter as she leaves. Not once does she look over her shoulder.


	2. Chapter 2

3 months have passed and Lily has not spoken to Asher since their argument. She assumes that he moved on with his life just as she has. She was honest when she said she was in love with New York and its people. She has found her home. However, she did start to wonder if she would ever find love in another person. Not that she was worried, not by any stretch. She is a 26-year-old movie critic living in New York. She would find someone eventually. And maybe this would be her eventually.

Lily takes the subway home every day from work and there are usually the same people there. She likes the routine of it all. Even if it gets a bit boring. But at work today, she got a call from a friend that she had not talked to in years. This is why she is currently taking the train to Boston from Grand Central to see her. She was lucky enough to score an empty section so she wouldn’t have to deal with any annoying people.   
            “Hey, do you mind if I sit here?” She can feel the tap on her shoulder. She looks up to see a man standing there in Boston Red Sox hat and grey zip up sweatshirt. He’s pointing to the seat diagonal from her own.  
            “No I don’t mind.” She smiles politely. They sit in comfortable silence a few moments until his phone starts ringing and actually makes her jump.  
            “I’m sorry.” He says before answering. She tunes out his conversation to avoid being rude. “Okay, honestly, I’m really sorry about startling you. I didn’t realize the ringer was up so high.” He says to her after his phone call. She glances up and meets the bluest eyes she has ever seen.   
            “Oh it’s fine, really. I’m just wound pretty tight right now.” She glances at the rest of him. And he really is quite attractive. He has beard, dark blond, assumedly that is his hair colour as well. She can see that under his sweatshirt he is well built.   
            “First time on a train?” He asks.  
            “Yeah.” She says sheepishly.  
            “Well there is nothing to be afraid of. Unless there is some psychopath on the train today.” Lily feels the colour drain from her face and her eyes widen. He chuckles, “I highly doubt that there is one today. You should be fine.” His smile lights up his whole face. It was as if the sun is shining through his pores.  
            “I should hope so. I have a friend waiting for me at the other end of this anxiety attack waiting to happen.” Lily says the last part mostly to herself.  
            “I understand the feeling.” He replies.  
            “Do you?” She was always a skeptic when someone tried to falsely understand something like anxiety.  
            “Yeah I get the attacks much too often if you ask me.”  
            “Oh, I’m sorry.” He smiles again, softer this time.  
            “It’s alright. Could I ask you a question?” He sounds hesitant.  
            “You just did.” Lily cannot help but be a bit of a smartass. But it gets him to laugh, and it is a full body laugh.   
            “I was wondering what your name was.” He says when his laughter dies down.  
            “Oh, it’s Lily. What about you?” She is still smiling. Lily doesn’t think she has stopped smiling since Red Sox guy has sat down.  
            “Luke.” He says with a small smile.  
            “It’s nice to meet you Luke.”

There is comfortable silence between the two of them for a few moments.  
            “So if this is your first time on the train, is it also your first time to Boston?” Luke inquires. Lily nods, the rocking motion of the train making her feel a bit motion sick. “You’re gonna like it there.” She smiles politely and begs her stomach not to make her get sick in front of Luke.  
            “How many times have you been there?” She asks; hoping talking will help.  
            “I used to live there actually.”  
            “Oh!”  
            “Yeah, I’m heading home to visit family.” She smiles again. Her stomach is actually cooperating.  
            “That’s great! I wish I could just take a train to see my family.” Lily says wistfully, “Well I could but it would take 3 days to do so.”  
            “Where are you from?” He asks  
            “Washington State.” Lily glances up at him.  
            “Oh, what made you move all the way out here then?” His eyebrows knit together in the cutest way.  
            “I moved until I found home. Okay that sounds stupid, but this is where my job is as well. And honestly, I just wanted to live somewhere that felt like home. And when I got here, I fell in love.” Lily knows that she has the stupidest look on her face but she could not bring herself to care. His smile never left his face while she was talking though. So she takes that as a good sign.  
            “I understand the feeling. What made you fall in love with New York?” Luke sounded generally interested as well.  
            “I fell in love with the architecture, the people, the way of life, most of all the skyline view I have from my apartment.” Lily can feel her face heat up as she spoke.   
            “Those are great things to fall in love with. Just to warn you,” His tone is playful, “you might fall in love with some of the same things in Boston.”   
            “Well we will have to see won’t we?” She says in a just as playful tone.

When the train comes into the station about an hour and half later, they have not stopped talking. Lily is reaching up to grab her bag from the rack but was having some trouble.   
            “Would you like me to give you hand?” Luke asks from behind her.  
            “Could you? It was easy to get it up there but not so much down apparently.” Lily steps aside to let Luke grab her bag. Luke chuckles lightly at her grumbling. “Thank you.”  
            “No problem. I, um, meant to ask you this, but how long are you going to be in Boston?” They walk off the train together and stand on the platform.   
            “Um depends on what my friend needs of me.” Luke quirks an eyebrow at her vague answer. “I got a call earlier from my friend in what sounded like a panic telling me to get down here as quickly as I could. And so, here I am. She was supposed to pick me up but I don’t see her.” Lily’s gaze swept the platform for her friend.   
            “Well she might be inside, there is a waiting area.” He motions to the building with his hand.   
            “Yeah I guess I never thought of that.” Lily mumbles to herself. He chuckles again.           “It’s okay; it’s your first time here.” He guides Lily inside to the waiting area. There Lily looks again for her friend but doesn’t see her.  
            “I don’t see her but she might be a running late or something.” Lily cracks her knuckles nervously. She sees Luke cringe out of the corner of her eye. “Sorry, nervous habit.” She gives him an uneasy smile.  
            “It’s okay. Do you have her number or know the address that you’re going to?” He puts a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She chuckles in a self-deprecating sort of way.  
            “Well I did call her number to get the address, but all she said was that she would pick me up.” Lily’s heart was racing and she could feel a cold sweat break out across her skin. Her breathing becomes shallower as the panic takes over. Luke steers her to a seat for her to sit down.  
            “Hey, breathe, it’ll be okay-“  
            “I’m in a city where I know exactly 2 people and I don’t know anything else. I don’t how I survived moving to New York.” Lily rambles over his words.  
            “Hey, remember how I said that I have anxiety?” she nods. “Well for now, just breathe. We will get to the rest in a second.” He grabs her hand and places it on his chest, between two perfect pectoral muscles. But more importantly, she can feel his steady heartbeat and even breathing. She focuses on that instead of on the knot of panic sitting in her own chest.

Once her breathing returns to normal she realizes that Luke is sitting next to her on the bench. Close enough for the entire sides of their bodies to be touching. It is actually comforting.  
            “How are you doing?” He asks.  
            “I’m better. Wow that was embarrassing.” She chuckles in spite of herself.  
            “It wasn’t that bad. It was better that there was someone with you though.” Lily can hear the smile in his voice. She glances up at him and he is in fact smiling at her.  
            “Well I appreciate this.” He bows his head in response. “Now to figure out how to find my friend.” She says to herself.  
            “Try calling her.” Luke suggests lightly. Lily nods and looks up at him with wide eyes. Damn him and his beard she thinks to herself. “Don’t worry I’m not going anywhere…unless you want me to.” He adds the last part quickly, mostly as an afterthought.  
            “No I want you to be here. So far, you are the only person I really trust in this whole city.” So Lily calls her friend and is told by her friend that they are on their way and should be there soon.  
            “Well then I’ll stay here until she does, again unless you don’t want me to.” Luke says politely.  
            “No I would like you to be here. You’re just going to think that I’m inept at traveling though.” Lily laughs in the self-deprecating way again. Luke shakes his head.  
            “Traveling is hard. Especially for us. I’m not judging you.” He sounds sincere and continues to smile at her. “How long did your friend say they were going to be?”  
            “Um ten-ish minutes. I think.” Lily is having a hard time recalling what was said.  
            “Okay, do you want to get coffee in the mean time?” Lily can hear the devilish smirk in his voice.   
            “Sure, but since you helped me with a panic attack, I’m paying.” Luke opens his mouth to argue but gets a hand in his face instead. “No arguments.”

The coffee isn’t great; Lily has to put a bunch of cream and sugar in her’s.  
            “Would you like coffee with your cream and sugar?” Luke jokes with her.  
            “Shush. I’m a Seattle brat which means I have been spoiled by good coffee.” Lily replies with a smile.   
            “Oh I see how it is; our local brand of coffee just isn’t good enough for you.” He plays offended.  
            “No it is not.” Lily says in a mock haughty voice. They both dissolve into giggles for the next few moments.  
            “This coffee actually sucks balls though.” Luke grimaces into his cup as he chokes down a sip. Lily can’t help the laughter that bubbles out of her mouth. Like an honest to god laugh. “Oh wow.” She hears Luke say with reverence.  
            “What?” Lily asks still giggling slightly. He just shakes his head. “No seriously, tell me.” Lily presses.  
            “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Luke waves her off. Lily looks at him with a full pout on her face. “Oh god no. Stop that.”  
            “Stop what?” She says feigning innocence.  
            “That look on your face.” Lily cocked her head to the side. She is fully aware of what this look can do. There is a “fuck” mumbled under his breath. “I just thought that your laugh was really adorable.” Even with the beard, Lily can see the blush blooming on his cheeks.  
            “Oh.” She breathes and drops the pout. Lily can feel the blush bloom on her cheeks as well.

“Lily!” They hear from behind Luke, breaking the tension. Lily looks over his shoulder to see her friend jogging up to them. “Gosh, I’m so sorry I’m late.” Her friend says breathlessly.  
            “Oh it’s okay. Luke kept me company.” Lily points to Luke standing awkwardly next to her.  
            “Hi! I’m Dannie.” Her friend sticks her hand out for him to shake. Luke shakes her hand with a “nice to meet you”. Though he sighs.  
            “Well I should go now; I hope to see you around Lily.” He waves and walks away. He glances over his shoulder once and smiles.  
            “Are you really gonna let a guy who looks like that walk away?” Dannie asks with an eyebrow quirked. Lily shakes her head and jogs after him.  
            "We should just make time to see each other.” She says to him and he smiles again. The sunshine smile. He agrees and they exchange phone numbers.


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the day Lily can’t stop smiling. Dannie continually makes fun of her during the car ride home.   
            “So what has you in just a panic that I had to get on the first train down here?” Lily says after a third round of teasing.  
            “Oh, nothing. I just knew that you would find some way out of coming down here if I didn’t sound like I really needed you.” Dannie smiles cheekily at her.  
            “Bitch.” Lily mumbles and sinks down in the passenger seat.  
            “Jerk” Dannie replies immediately. Lily chuckles at the reference. “But I’m glad to know that you’ll face your fear for me if I do need you in a crisis.”  
            “Yeah it isn’t a problem. The only thing would make it a problem is work. Luckily I was able to off for the rest of the day.”  
            “That is great. When are you going to see Red Sox dude again?” She asks.   
            “His name is Luke but we decided to wait until both of us are back in New York. The timing just wouldn’t work.” Lily shrugs. “Plus he’s here visiting family so I wouldn’t want to take him from that.”  
            “You’re so sweet.” Dannie says while pulling into her driveway. “So you need to at least stay for dinner.”  
            “I’m good with that.”

Lily ends up staying for dinner, dessert, and sleeps in Dannie’s guest room. She is woken up by her phone buzzing on the end table next to her. She glances at the caller ID before answering but is still half-asleep when she answers.   
            “Good morning, Luke.” She answers sleepily.  
            “Good morning Lily, I didn’t wake you did I?” She can see the scowl that he would have on his face.  
            “Yeah you did and if it’s before 8 in the morning I’ll be mad at you. But if it’s after it’s okay.” She teases.  
            “Well its 7:58 so I’m sorry.”  
            “Damn you!” She laughs. “Now, not that I mind being woken up by you, why are you calling me this early?” Lily is slowly waking up the more she talks to him.  
            “I, uh, don’t have a good answer to that. I’m an early riser I guess and I’m a little curious as to when you’re heading back.”   
            “I hadn’t thought about it yet. I was probably just going to leave around 10 I guess. Give myself enough time to wake up and eat something with Dannie before heading home.” There is a pause on both ends. “Unless you want to do something.”  She can feel herself smile at the thought.  
            “Well I feel like I owe you coffee since the stuff we drank yesterday was so horrible. So if you wouldn’t mind waiting until later to head home…” Luke trails off.  
            “Yeah I’d like that.” Lily replies.  
            “Great, I can come pick you up if you want. But I don’t know what’s going on with your friend.”  Lily laughs softly at his concern.  
            “She faked it. She knew I’d figure out a way to not get on a train and just stay behind if I didn’t have an obligation.” She can hear Luke laugh on the other end.  
            “That’s actually really smart. So what time can I come get you?” Lily feels like she is back in high school when he asks.  
            “Well I haven’t seen my friend in a while so I’d like to have breakfast with her. So why don’t you pick me up at nine then? I’m sure she’s awake by now.” Lily swings her legs out of the bed and grabs her glasses off the side table.   
            “That sounds wonderful. I’ll see you then.” Luke replies.  
            “Okay, bye.”  
            “Bye.” Lily hangs up quickly and finds her clothes out of her bag. And she is right; Dannie is up already and making coffee.

“Were you talking to Mr. Future Husband in there?” Dannie asks with a smirk.  
            “Hush up you.” Lily tries to hide her smile behind her mug of coffee but fails. “He wants to treat me to better coffee than the train coffee.” She mumbles.  
            “Oh really? And when is that happening?” Dannie quirks an eyebrow.  
            “He’s picking me up at nine.”  
            “Alright then,” Dannie sets her cup down on the counter. “Let’s get you ready.” She winks.  
            “Whoa what do you mean by that? I was just gonna wear this.” Lily motions to herself.  
            “Oh hell no. First if you wear jeans right now you will die. I know you. Second, this is a date sweetheart. You will thank me later. Let’s go.” Dannie grabs her hand and pulls her to the back of the house.

In the end, Dannie dresses Lily in a black skater skirt and a dark blue V-neck. The skirt sits just below her navel with the shirt tucked in. Lily gets a look at herself in the mirror and realizes that she does feel more put together than if she had just worn jeans and sweatshirt.  
            “Here, borrow this. For your phone, wallet, and whatever else you need.” Dannie hands Lily a black messenger bag.   
            “Thanks.” There is an unread text on her phone from Luke: _What is your friend’s address?_ Dannie types out her address and sends the message. A few moments later he replies: _Thanks, I will be there in ten._ Then: _Unless you need more time._ Lily can feel the anxiety in his words.   
            “Wow he really doesn’t want to screw this up.” Dannie says fondly.  
            “I guess not.” Lily says with a smile. She types out Luke a text: _Ten minutes is fine. :)_

Exactly ten minutes later, Lily sees Luke’s car pull into the driveway. Not that she was waiting by the window or anything like a nervous teen. Lily waits a few moments after he knocks before answering. She didn’t want to seem overly eager. Luke is standing there in fitted dark wash jeans and blue t-shirt with three buttons on the front. He left the top two unbuttoned exposing chest hair that almost made Lily swoon.  
            “Hey.” He says when she opens the door.  
            “Hi” She replies quietly. There is a blush crawling across her cheeks.  
            “You look really nice.” He says. There is a smile adorning his lips when he speaks. As Lily had guessed, under the ball cap his hair was dark blond. He styled it for this outing. And Lily has the biggest urge to run her fingers through it.  
            “Thank you. You look really good as well.” Lily is sure her entire face is red as she internally chastises herself at her poor grammar and lack of verbal skills now. He gives her a grin.  
            “If you’re ready, we can head out now.”  
            “Oh, yeah,” Lily turns to shout into the house, “see you later Dannie!”

The car ride lacks a lot of conversation aside from Luke asking Lily if she would like him to change the radio station.   
            “No it’s okay. As long as it isn’t country I can tolerate mostly anything.” She replies. Though Lily doesn’t recognize hardly anything being played until a Van Halen song comes on. She finds herself tapping her foot and singing softly.  
            “Wait, are you singing Panama by Van Halen right now?” Luke asks. Lily nods and continues to sing. “That’s my new favourite thing about you.”  
            “What was your old favourite thing?” Lily inquires. Luke doesn’t answer, just gives her a side-glance and a smirk.  
            “Alright then, keep your secrets.” Lily crosses her arms and turns to face out the window in mock dejection. Luke chuckles at her.  
            “You are adorable.” He continues to smile at her. Lily can feel herself blush at his words.  
            “Whatever.” She whispers. She glances at him and can see him smiling even from his profile. Lily uncrosses her arms and fiddles with the edge of her skirt.  
            “Well you are. There’s no denying that.” Luke takes a hand off the steering wheel and wraps it around one of Lily’s. His hand is warm against her skin. Lily’s face breaks out into a smile. Luke leaves his hand wrapped around her’s until they get to the coffee shop.

“Now, this coffee isn’t going to beat your Seattle coffee, but it’s the best we got around here.” Luke says as he gets out of the car.   
            “Well I’ll try to not be too snobby then.” Lily chuckles. Luke holds the door open for her as they enter the coffee shop.

After they order their coffee, they go sit at an open table outside. The sun is out and warms Lily’s skin.  
            “So how is it?” Luke asks, breaking the silence.  
            “It’s actually really good. Thank you. Train station coffee can suck it.” Lily smiles and Luke laughs.   
            “Train station coffee is never something you want to experience unless you have to.” He says. Lily smiles at that.  
            “No, but it does lead to good company.” Luke meets her eyes and smiles something soft like.   
            “That it does.” He reaches over and takes her hand in hers.

 

This will not be the last time he holds her hand but 2 and half years later Luke takes her hand one more time at that train station where they met and he asks her to marry him.


End file.
